Why Do Audiences Seem To Love Keegan-Michael Key More Than Jordan Peele?

During a time when comedy seems to constantly be at its A-game, it’s impressive to stand out. Whether you’re talking about their hit sketch series, Key & Peele, or their guest appearances on Season One of Fargo, that’s what Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele do — they stand out. Both actors in the comedy duo are incredible performers, able to transform even the most mundane premises into comedic gold and insert a surprising amount of humanity into their often-insane characters. There’s a reason why the cancellation of their Comedy Central show was met with a collective “NOOO!” from the Internet. They’re amazing. And yet, it doesn’t seem like the duo receives an equal amount of love.

According to IMDB, Key has 73 acting credits while Peele only has 39. Though those are both impressive numbers, that’s a surprising disparity. Key has almost two times the amount of acting credits as his comedy partner. Now, I know nothing about the personal ambitions of each actor. Some performers want to be in everything, and some performers take their career more in stride. Based on his interviews, H. Jon Benjamin (Bob’s Burgers, Archer) seems to fall more in that latter category if you need a point of reference, but I don’t think Key or Peele do. Both performers really broke out during their time on MADtv, and both kept up an incredibly quick, innovative, and smart pace on Key & Peele. From the outside, it looks like they’re both highly-driven comedians, so what’s up? Based on their acting credits and who we interview, why do we seem to prefer Key to Peele?

Is it their age difference?

Because there is almost a decade gap between the two performers — Key is 44, and Peele is 36 — you could make the age argument. Key has been on the scene longer, so it would make sense that he’s had more roles. However, IMDB only partially supports this notion.

Key and Peele really broke into the mainstream during their time on MADtv. If you take away each of their roles prior to being cast on the show, Key has 55 credits, and Peele has 37. Sure, the gap is now smaller, but it’s still noticeable.

Maybe Key is just better at playing the crazy man?

Most sketch comedy can be boiled down to one simple concept: the crazy man vs. the straight man. These terminologies have nothing to do with actors’ genders or sexualities and everything to do with how they respond to a scene. The crazy man fuels the insane situation, and the straight man, who the audience is supposed to relate to, responds. Typically, performers who play crazy well get more recognition than their straight counterparts because they’re the ones we remember. We think of Target lady, not the customer trying to body bronzer.

When I first brought up the idea that Key is possibly more loved than Peele, my peers pointed to how talented Key is when it comes to playing insane characters. However, Peele is just as talented. How else would you explain one of my all-time favorite Key & Peele sketches, “Lightening in a Bottle”?

Or Peele’s amazing impression of Jaden Smith in the Season One, Episode Five “Gay Marriage Legalized”? Or Peele’s Emmy-nominated music video parody about rapping rivalry, “Sad 50 Cent”?

And then there are the two Epic Rap Battles of History and the sketch “Prepared for Terries” where both Key and Peele went crazy. The first is “Gandi vs. Martin Luther King Jr,” and the other is “Michael Jordan vs. Muhammad Ali.” I could go on, but the point is both comedians can play the crazy man really well. Peele plays his insane roles with a level-headed certainty that’s miles away from Key’s loud and expressive technique, but that speaks more to Peele’s clearly-defined personal style than to his comedic capabilities. Both actors kill it comedically.

So…is it a racial issue?

As much as I wish we were so socially advanced that I wouldn’t even have to ask this question, we aren’t. And unfortunately, there is some evidence to support that this one is, at least in part, about race. When Key and Peele were auditioning for MADtv, they were pitted against each other. There were originally four African-American people on the cast, and Fox only wanted to offer two spots. However, the pair had such great comedic chemistry, they were both hired, allowing them to become the comedic powerhouse we know and love today. I imagine the whole fiasco felt a little like this:

Then there’s Peele’s audition for Saturday Night Live. The producers were looking for someone to play Barack Obama, and Peele auditioned, but the part went to Fred Armisen before it was later given to Jay Pharoah. Now I love Fred Armisen. Portlandia is a smart, zany, morbid, and delightful look into a really niche movement, and “Put a Bird on It” is one of my favorite sketches. I also don’t think that gender or race should limit the impressions comedians can do. Kristen Schaal’s impression of Tennessee Williams on The Dead Authors Podcast is one of my newfound loves. However, it’s weird that SNL didn’t portray our first African-American president with an African-American actor when several performers, including the topical and biting Peele, were auditioning for the role. It’s especially confusing and disheartening now that we’ve learned how dead-on Peele’s Obama impression is:

I can’t prove that the reason there’s such a big IMDB disparity between Key and Peele is because of racism, but I have lived in 2016 and I can speculate. As a white woman, I will never know what it’s like to be a biracial man trying to make it in the comedy scene, but I do know that the idea there can’t be too many non-white, non-male, non-straight performers and writers is toxic. We need exciting and innovative voices like Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. We need people who see what sets them apart from the cookie-cutter and whitewashed norm as a “Golden Ticket to themes rarely explored on television.” I guess what I’m saying is that we desperately need more Jordan Peele.

Thankfully, both actors have a few projects coming up, so that needs should be met relatively soon. Key is starring in two animated kids movies — Storks and The Angry Birds Movie — as well as Don’t Think Twice, a movie about an improv group that is challenged once they land a TV show, and Peele is starring in Captain Underpants. Both are also starring in the already-anticipated cat-themed thriller, Keanu, which you can watch the trailer for below. Please keep creating, guys. And Hollywood, there’s more than enough room in our hearts for both of these amazing comedians.